Buried heterostructure AlxGa1−xAs-GaAs quantum well lasers by Ge diffusion from the vapor

Data are presented on a method to diffuse Ge into quantum well AlxGa1−xAs-GaAs crystals from a vapor source, thus effecting impurity-induced layer disordering, and shift from lower to higher gap. The Ge diffusion is characterized on undoped GaAs by using secondary ion mass spectroscopy and capacitance-voltage electrochemical profiling. The layer disordering with Ge is used to fabricate 5-μm-wide buried heterostructure quantum well lasers (250 μm long) with continuous wave thresholds as low as 7 mA and output powers of greater than 90 mW (both facets).